/>I reached out to my daughter, Meishe, to share some of her favorite books. Meishe has a bachelor’s degree in English and is now a doting wife and raising a beautiful future reader of her own. Here are some of the books she shares for younger readers.
If you’ve ever been in my family’s home, one of the first things you’ve noticed was probably the three large bookshelves all lined up library-style. I grew up reading all kinds of books but of course most of my top selections came from my mom’s carefully curated collection. I’ve listed the following books not from favorite to least favorite, but in order of the age I enjoyed them, starting with Birthday Soup. If you find you haven’t read all of these books, I seriously recommend them all! They have shaped my life.
Birthday Soup - Little Bear
By Else Holmelund Minarik
Birthday Soup is a cozy installment of the Little Bear series. A young bear cannot find his mother on his birthday. Instead of being understandably upset, Little Bear determines to make his birthday special by making soup for all his friends. I still love this book as an adult because I love Little Bear’s ingenuity, humility, patience, and love for his friends. Plus, soup is, in my opinion, one of the warmest, coziest meals you could treat yourself to and it warms my heart to see Little Bear’s animal friends enjoying it.
The Real Mother Goose
Illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright
I have always loved tradition — and what’s more traditional than Mother Goose? Nursery rhymes are funny, punchy, and easy to memorize (I memorized every single nursery rhyme in a collection we had growing up). Many poems have a clear message, but even more are fun to decipher. I don’t think it matters what Mother Goose collection you have. But I do think every home should have some Mother Goose in it.
Strega Nona
By Tomie DePaola
This book makes me hungry. Enough said, I think. But in all seriousness, Strega Nona teaches some valuable life lessons in consequences, obedience, and the danger of inciting the mob. Watching Big Anthony stuff himself on pasta as a result of his sins is enough to send me to the kitchen to boil my own pasta. Luckily, I married an Italian who likes to hand roll his own fettuccine.
Winnie the Pooh
By A. A. Milne
I love the slow, imaginative world of Christopher Robin. This book is about play. I can’t wait for my little Peter to read this and play in the woods with his own little animal friends. I don’t think childhood gets better than that. Fun story, I lived with my family during the summer my husband and I were dating and he would call every night to read Winnie the Pooh to my little brother. We’d take turns doing the voices. Of course, I fell deeply in love with the voice actor for Winnie the Pooh (wink wink).
Johnny Tremain
By Esther Forbes
A modern classic that deserves a place on every family’s shelf, this is a poignant look into America’s foundations. As a child, I appreciated the story of childhood drama as much as the country’s, but I still felt like I came to know Paul Revere personally. It‘s a great companion to the Longfellow poem.
The First Woman Doctor
By Rachel Baker
This is an older title and may be hard to find, but I love this book. It’s about Elizabeth Blackwell and touches on women’s suffrage and early medicine in the United States. It could be a heavy subject, but the author presents this in a lighthearted style that is ideal for young people.
The Scarlet Pimpernel
By Emmuska Orczy
Wow, did this fuel my romantic imagination as a fifteen-year-old. I loved the story of a marriage restored and communication fixing everything. Fun story: When I was twelve, my family hosted a little “ball” at our house. My future husband attended dressed in a very elaborate Scarlet Pimpernel costume he had made all by his fourteen-year-old self.
Thank you, Meishe, for your beautiful thoughts about books. Even as a child, I could rely on your sense of a book’s worth. We appreciate your thoughts and look forward to future recommendations!
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